Foot-in-the-mouth disease makes for great headlines, garners tremendous media attention and often results in a dip in career graphs of those afflicted by it. There are always exceptions to the rule, and Hansraj Bhardwaj (73) is certainly one. The Karnataka Governor created quite a storm with his vocal stance against two Karnataka ministers, Janardhana Reddy and his brother Karunakara Reddy, the Bellary magnates tainted with charges of running an illegal mining empire in the state.

It was a typical case of shooting off one’s mouth. Although Bhardwaj’s comments against the Reddy brothers were not regarded as wrong, instead of being an impartial and distant observer, the Governor came in the eye on the storm of the political crisis that bedevils Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa’s government. His intemperate remarks caused embarrassment to the Congress, and not for the first time.

In his stint as the Union Law Minister, he gave the go-ahead to the de-freezing of two London bank accounts of Bofors scam accused Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi in 2006. It is unclear whether Bhardwaj took the step on his own or he was asked to do so. The decision led to a massive uproar with several opposition leaders demanding Bhardwaj’s sacking from the Union Cabinet. His good work, including introducing the concept of rural courts in the country, was eclipsed. To his credit, Bhardwaj owned up the decision during an interview with The Tribune. He said he had never met Quattrocchi in his life and so there was no question of doing any favour to the Italian by him. “The Vajpayee government, despite trying all possible means, failed to prove the charges pertaining to the Bofors case. It is periodically dug out only to attack Sonia Gandhi. So, in response to a query from the bank, I decided to de-freeze the accounts.” He also faced criticism for not acting on the advice of the then Chief Election Commissioner, N Gopalaswamy, for removal of Navin Chawla, who was then an Election Commissioner. Bhardwaj simply asked Gopalaswamy to stop acting like a “political boss”.

Even his veneration of the judiciary proved ill-timed. At the National Law Day function in 2008, he equated judges to gods, stating that they carried out “divine functions” by dispensing justice to the litigants. At the same function, the then Chief Justice of India KG Balakrishnan, was to deliver a speech after Bhardwaj. The CJI’s office had circulated the prepared text of the speech that focused on corruption in judiciary. However, because of Bhardwaj’s stance, the CJI was forced to give up the text and resort to an extempore address focusing on the need for reducing the number of pending cases. Shortly thereafter, corruption charges were levelled against a Punjab and Haryana High Court Judge in the cash-at-door scam. Attracting controversy as a minister is one thing; however, being accused of acting as a partisan Governor is another. The BJP describes him as a “Congress agent”, even though Bhardwaj has not been hobnobbing with Congress leaders of Karnataka, and “respects” the Deve Gowda-led Janata Dal (Secular) as well as Yeddyurappa.

Till now, Delhi has given him a free hand, which is not surprising. Bhardwaj, a trusted Congressman first and foremost. Born on May 17, 1937, at Garhi village in Rohtak district of Haryana, Bhardwaj had a humble beginning as a lawyer who practised in the Tis Hazari court in Delhi, but he has gone a long way since. He was a Rajya Sabha member for 27 years, when he was denied berth for him in UPA-2, after a long tenure as Union Law Minister for a record 14 years - as MoS for nine years and in Cabinet rank for five years - and told to head to Karnataka where he was made the Governor. As a dutiful Congressman, Bhardwaj packed his bags and hopped off to Bangalore. A former lawyer, Bhardawaj has represented three generations of the Gandhi family - Indira, Rajiv and Rahul - in courts. He is a trusted confidant. His father Jagan Nath Prasad Sharma was secretary to Jawaharlal Nehru. Bhardwaj was studying law when Jagan Nath died. He was Sanjay Gandhi’s lawyer during the Emergency days (1975-77) when he successfully dealt with cases filed against Sanjay. His son Arun is Robert Vadra’s personal lawyer, who has also handled a matter for Priyanka Gandhi.

In the wake of attacks on Christians in the state just before he took over, Bhardwaj, after his installation as the Governor, met Christian religious leaders and assured them of protection. He also publicly criticised the state government for failing to control law and order. The mining barons, Karunakara Reddy and Janardhana Reddy, have also been his targets.

The latest outburst against them has to be seen in the context of his handling a petition submitted by a Congress legislative council member. As Union Law Minister, Bhardwaj had moved the highly controversial Parliament (Prevention of Disqualification) Amendment Bill, 2006, also known as the office of profit Bill, to bring changes in the 1959 Act to exempt more posts from the purview of the office of profit. The amendment rescued some 40 MPs who were facing disqualification for violating the provisions of the original Act. The post of chairperson of the National Advisory Council (NAC), held by Sonia Gandhi, was also exempted from the list of office of profit under the new law. The Congress president, who had to quit the post and resign from the Lok Sabha in the wake of the controversy, once again took up as NAC chairperson after getting re-elected to the Lok Sabha. As Governor, Bhardwaj summoned the three Karnataka ministers, an unprecedented action. The ministers sent their lawyer. Bhardwaj referred the petitions to the Election Commission. The ministers were served notices by the EC after a respectable 25-day gap.

Bhardwaj has stirred the pot with his comments. This is one time that Mr Loudmouth is being feted for what he said, an unusual occurrence, which must be feeling good. It always does when the foot doesn’t land in the mouth.

(With inputs from Faraz Ahmad and R Sedhuraman)